Harry Potter and What Could Have Been
by HermioneNHarry
Summary: Sure the story of Deathly Hallows is great but what if Harry and Hermione finally got sick of Ron leaving them. This is my Harry/Hermione version of Deathly Hallows from the morning after Ron left on. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 16: A New Dawn

**A/N: A few things before we get started. I loved all of the HP books and the seventh is without a doubt my favorite. But I always hoped that somehow Harry and Hermione would end up together. I knew it probably wouldn't happen but when Ron left them in DH I saw the opportunity so this is my version of what I think should have happened after Ron left. I am trying to follow most of the same story lines that Ms. Rowling went with but adjust them to fit my story. It's rated mature just in case things gets a little interesting later on. Obviously I own nothing and I give all of the credit for the characters and the world to Ms. Rowling, just the story is mine. I'll try to post at least a chapter a week, more when I have more time. So please read/review/enjoy.**

**Chapter 16: A New Dawn**

Harry awoke the next morning after not sleeping well. He looked to his left and saw the locket sitting on the table where he had left it after Ron had thrown it to the ground. He looked right, expecting to see Hermione in the bed beside him but he found it empty. Perking up his ears he heard the crackling of a fire outside and pulled on his cloak and headed out of the tent to find Hermione idly poking at the fire. "Morning," he said blinking at the rising sun, something they hadn't seen in weeks.

"Morning," she said softly in return.

"You didn't sleep at all did you," Harry said noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"No. I tried but every noise I heard I thought it was Ron finally wising up," she replied hoarsely.

"He'll come back," Harry said. "Once he get's a few of his Mom's home cooked meal in his stomach he'll be back and better then ever.

"How?" Hermione asked. "We have to leave this place today, we've already been here nearly a week. Once we leave he won't know were to find us."

"Maybe we could stay a few extra days," Harry said searching for hope.

"No, he's not coming back, he won't back," Hermione said convincing herself.

"Why don't you get some sleep, I'll keep watch," Harry said. Hermione finally gave up her internal fight and walked back into the tent as Harry stirred the fire. He sat and watched as the sun came up over the lake they were camped beside. He thought it was ironic that the first nice day they had had since they left on their journey was the first after Ron had given up the fight. As the sun began to heat the ground Harry pulled off his cloak. For several hours he let the sun heat his body, feeling truly warm for the first time in weeks. As he sat he thought about their journey thus far. Ron had been right about one thing, they were really no closer to defeating Voldemort then they had been since they left the ministry. And yet in spite of that Harry felt his spirits lifted slightly. With just the two of them it would be much easier to move around. The two of them could easily fit under the invisibility cloak so getting food would be an easier task as well. And planning, well finally it would unencumbered by Ron's useless complaining. Maybe now they would be able to think clearly and just get to work.

As he thought about this he saw a fish jumping in the placid lake and it gave him an idea. Stripping off his shirt and pants and casting a warming charm on the water he dove in. As he swam through the slightly murky but not all together too bad water he felt free. He began to swim back and forth along the little beach that they had camped at doing different strokes. Once when he came up for air he heard from the shoreline, "Harry what are you doing?"

He looked over to see Hermione smiling over at him. "Come on Hermione, it feels incredible."

"But I don't have a bathing suit," she replied.

"Neither do I, just go in your knickers. Don't worry I won't look."

"But Harry it looks awfully dirty."

"Hermione we haven't showered since we left Grimmauld Place, you really think cleanliness should be our main concern?"

"Oh all right," she replied. As she began to pull her shirt up Harry spun around and looked back out of the lake as he continued to tread. A few seconds later he heard a loud splash and a few seconds after that Hermione broke the surface right beside him. "Oh Harry this feels so wonderful." For the next hour or so they swam around and for a few minutes almost forgot all about the problems they faced. Finally they decided they had better get a move on. While Harry turned around again Hermione made her way to shore. After a minute she called back to Harry, "Okay you can come in now." He spun around and began to swim to shore and was a little shocked to see Hermione still pulling up her pants. He couldn't help but notice her black knickers and he immediately felt ashamed for the thoughts he was having. _She's your best friend, you can't think of her like that, _he thought as he pulled on his clothes. As she made her way back to the tent he caught himself staring at her, _come on Harry she's practically your sister._

Shaking his head he followed Hermione into the tent and they began to pack everything up. They went through their now very familiar routine of cleaning up any evidence they had ever been there. Finally when everything was packed away into Hermione's bag they grasped each other's hands. Each took one final glance towards the spot where Ron had disparated from before, in a blink, they were gone. Harry looked around to find that Hermione had taken them to a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest and he set his things down to begin casting the protective enchantments around their camp. He looked back to see a small tear trickling down Hermione's cheek and he walked over and put his arm around her. Much to his surprise she responded by holding him close. "That unbelievable prat, how could he just leave us?"

"It's okay Hermione, we'll be okay," Harry said softly.

"I know Harry, as long as I have you I know that I'll be fine. I just can't believe he left."

"I guess it was just too much to ask of him," he replied.

"We're better off anyway, come on, let's get to work." And with that not another word was mentioned of Ron. They quickly got their camp set up and each went to work at studying the notes they had been making. Everything that Harry had down kept pointing him to Godric's Hallow but he knew Hermione would never approve of going there. He spent the next several hours writing out his case as to why they needed to go there, making sure that he had everything in order and that all of his arguments seemed completely logical. He was just about to begin his statement when Hermione piped up, "I think we need to Godric's Hollow."

"You what?"

"I think we need to go to Godric's Hollow," she reiterated.

"But I thought you said that he would be expecting that," Harry replied.

"And he may very well be but it just makes too much sense. I mean Dumbledore lived there, it just seems like the natural connection between you two. I doubt that Voldemort knows that part. There's got to be something there," she stated.

"I was thinking the same thing. I mean what other options do we have at this point?"

"But it'll be dangerous. We'll need to plan. We need to be smart about this."

"That'll be a right bit easier without Ron with us now won't it?" Harry said smirking.

"Boy won't it ever," Hermione said sharing Harry's grin.

"Alright what's the plan?" For the next three days they planned. Hermione was able to get a map of the town from one of her history books and they went about deciding where to go and where the most likely places there would be something hidden may be. It felt invigorating to finally have a set plan. While neither of them had any clue what they may be looking for they both seemed reenergized just to be doing something with a purpose.

There were three places they kept coming upon. The first seemed to be the most obvious in connection with Dumbledore, his old home. From what they understood he lived there from the time he was a young boy, around 10 or 11 until the time that he left to teach at Hogwarts leaving him plenty of time to find a few places for things to hide.

The next most obvious place was Harry's old home, the place his parents had been murdered and supposedly where a moment still stood. They knew that Dumbledore had been in contact with them around that time and even that he had helped them set up their home there so it seemed he would have had a chance to make that connection.

Finally there was the graveyard in Godric's Hollow. From reading through the history books they sumized that that's where both the Harry's parents and Dumbledore's mother and sister were buried in addition to several other prominent witches and wizards from throughout history. Harry knew that hiding things within graves was something that Riddle was keen to do and he thought that maybe Dumbledore would have used that idea to his advantage as well.

The next thing they had to figure out was what it was they were even looking for. All the while they had been so concerned with how to open the locket they had really forgotten to concern themselves with the other horcruxes. "Hufflepuff's cup, the snake and something from Ravenclaw," Harry said repeating what Dumbledore had shown him.

"Well it's like we've been saying, the snake is going to be with him and we have no idea what he may have gotten from Ravenclaw so let's focus on the cup," Hermione stated.

"Oh great so all we have to do is narrow our search down to places that could hold a cup, that shouldn't be too hard," Harry said sarcastically.

"Well it's a start," Hermione mentioned.

"And that's right better than we had to go off before," he replied.

"Alright so are we ready then?" she asked.

"We go tonight, midnight, when no one else should be around," he suggested.

"I think we should apparated to the graveyard, no one will be there at that time of night," Hermione said.

"Then we're all set," he stated. "Let's start getting this place cleaned up."


	2. Chapter 17: Godric's Hollow

**Chapter 17: Godric's Hollow**

Harry opened his eyes and looked around as the snow fell around them. Hermione held up the picture in the book. "I think we made it," she whispered.

They looked around for a minute in silence before Harry whispered, "Revelo." When there was nothing in response they were they were alone. The pulled off the cloak and began looking around. To their right they saw a long row of little village houses that lined the street. To their left they saw a small church that was decorated up for the Christmas season. As they stood there silently the soft hum of a hymn could just barely be made out.

"Harry I think it's Christmas Eve," Hermione said. Harry didn't know whether to be excited for the season or disappointed that they hadn't known before.

"Happy Christmas Hermione," he said as she wrapped his arm around her.

"Happy Christmas Harry," she replied before she leaned up and gave his a soft kiss on the cheek. Luckily the chill in the air masked Harry's blush as they began to walk along the path that led out of the cemetery.

Harry glanced around at the markers that dotted the landscape around them. It was bigger than he had hoped it would be, "It won't be easy finding the right graves," he mentioned as they walked out of the gate.

"Well we'll manage," Hermione reassured him. There plan was to go to Harry's parents house first. They figured since he was an abandoned monument that would be the easiest place to get into. All they had was an address for Dumbledore's old house so they weren't sure what they would find. Hermione thought that Aberforth may still be there as they couldn't find any record of him ever leaving it. Harry thought if that was the case they were really in trouble. They figured they would save the graveyard for last, checking it on their way out as it likely would be the easiest to make a quick get away from if it were needed in the morning. Both had agreed that if anything happened they were to apparated back to Tottenham Court Road and they could decide there next step in muggle London.

As they turned out of the graveyard Harry led the way. He felt as if he instinctively knew where to go. They made their way along the quiet street that bordered the cemetery, rounded a bend and then saw it. Nestled among the picturesque cottage was one that looked as though it had been struck by lightning, twice. Hermione pulled out the invisibility cloak and slipped it over them as they slowly made their way to the house. When they arrived at the front gate they looked to one another, silently asking each other what to do. Finally Harry tentatively reached out for the front gate. The moment his skin touched the iron he felt a jolt through his body as though it were electrically charged causing him to jump back. Hermione whipped out her wand and looked around for what she was certain to be some sort of ambush but instead they watched as a piece of parchment materialized on the gate and a note began to appear.

In this home on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to both Muggles and Dark Wizards alike, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore their family and the hope of the world apart. It may only be accessed by Harry James Potter in the hopes that one day he may find solace in his true home.

There were three small marking s on the bottom of the note. "Do you really think it's safe?" Hermione asked quietly.

"That's Dumbledore's mark, and that's Lupin's and Moody's. I think they left it here as a safe point for me. Come on, let's go in." Harry opened the gate and together they made their way inside.

"Okay but let's still put up our protective charms," Hermione said. But when she waved her want the flash of light went straight back to her wand. "It's already had the protections placed on it. That means the only way we could have gotten past them is if we were marked as friends. That takes a really strong and complicated bit of magic that's why I've never done it before."

Feeling slightly more comfortable they made their way to the front door. Expecting the worst Harry opened the door. What he was greeted by though was not the weather worn wasteland he was expecting but rather what looked to be a dark yet fully functioning house. They looked at each other each with a confused look in their eyes but pulled off the invisibility cloak and lit their wands before making their way silently up the stairs. There they found a great black mark outside one of the doors. "That's where my dad died," Harry said tenderly. They walked towards the door and Harry raised his hand to the doorknob. He pushed it and suddenly he was transferred back to the dreams he had been having for years. Nearly the entire ceiling in the room and the roof above it had been blown off but somehow the snow that was still falling outside wasn't landing on their heads and Harry noticed that it was the warmth from the house, not the wind and cold from outside still engulfed him.

"They must have preserved it somehow," Hermione said in awe as she looked around but Harry barely heard her.

He was staring at the only piece of furniture in the room that was not burned, broken or otherwise destroyed. "This is where he tried to kill me," he said walking up and placing his hand on the crib. "And this is where my mother died," he continued looking to the floor. Finally his emotions won out and he dropped to the floor in tears. Hermione dropped with him and wrapped her arms around him. "He didn't even care about them. It was me he wanted, not them. But he killed them anyway. They were no threat to him, he just killed them because they were in the way," Harry said through sobs.

"But Harry they died to save you. They died so you could live," Hermione pleaded.

"Like Sirius, and Moody, why does everyone have to die for me?"

"They're not just dying for you Harry," she implored. "They're dying for what you stand for, you stand for good," she continued. "No, scratch that, you stand for great. You stand for everything that's worthy and noble in the world. Harry you are the most amazing person I have ever and will probably ever know. How you do the things you've done I'll never understand. Why you chose some bushy haired girl as your friend I'll never get," Hermione spat out as she succumbed to tears of her own.

"Hermione," Harry began the tables now turned, "You're amazing. I could never have done all the things I have done without you. I would never be here without you," he said now wrapping both arms around her as they embraced.

"Oh Harry I'm sorry it's just that I'm always so afraid that you won't make it through your next ordeal. I don't think I could live without you Harry," she said pulling her head back to look Harry in the eyes.

"I couldn't live without you either Hermione," Harry said softly, gazing into her eyes. He watched as a tear trickled down her face and he reached slowly up to wipe it away. When he had he left his hand on her cheek as she smiled wistfully at him. At that moment something in his heart took over. Suddenly it didn't matter that they were in the middle of a war. It didn't matter how many nights he had watched Ginny's name on a map or how many times he had seen her and Ron sitting close. Their lips met before he really knew what was happening. His hands gripped her tighter as their lips parted and they shared the passionate embrace. They held onto each other for many wonderful minutes before finally pulling back just enough to breathe. With their foreheads pressed together and their eyes closed he breathed out, "Hermione."

"Yes Harry," she whispered.

"Was that okay?" he asked innocently.

Hermione laughed softly, "Yes Harry. That was more than okay. That was perfect," she replied.

"Do you think maybe we could stay here tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's a great idea."

They got to their feet and walked hand in hand back into the hallway. Hermione reached over and hit a light switch and incredibly the hall light turned on. They walked back down the stairs turning on more lights as they went until they reached the kitchen. There Hermione walked over to the sink and turned the nobs and they watched as fresh clear water fell from the faucet.

"Would it be okay with you if I took a shower?" Hermione asked as Harry walked up next to her.

"Of course, why would you even need to ask?" Harry questioned.

"Well we are in your house," she replied.

"Well what's mine is yours," he stated. "In fact I think I'll take one after you."

"Okay, I'll be quick," she said and leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

He grinned as she walked away and he heard the door close from the other room. Harry looked around the room at the cozy kitchen attached to the dinning room. He then made his way back into the front room which appeared to be the main living room of the house. He sat down on the sofa and realized he had seen the bottom of this same sofa in the picture his mom had sent to Sirius. He grabbed a photo album from the coffee table and began to slowly flip through the pictures. There were several of his mother and father and even a few of Sirius, Remus and much to his chagrin, Peter, but mostly they were of himself as a baby. He didn't know how long he'd been looking at the album when he heard the door open up and he looked up to see Hermione walking out in a towel.

"Sorry," she said blushing a bit. "I got so excited about finally being clean that I forgot to take my clothes in there with me."

"It's okay," he replied doing his best not to stare.

"What are you looking at?" she asked as she came over and sat down beside him still in the towel.

"Just pictures from my mum and dad," he replied.

"They look really happy," she mentioned.

"Yeah, I think they were."

"Well the bathroom's all yours," Hermione said smiling at him.

"Thanks," Harry replied as she went and grabbed a few things out of their bag before handing it to Hermione. He went into the bathroom and turned on the water. Harry hadn't realized just how dirty he had been as he washed all the much wash down the drain. When he had finished he pulled on his night clothes and headed back out. Hermione wasn't there but he saw a light coming from one of the two other rooms h hadn't been in yet that led off the main room. He walked in to what turned out to be his parents' bedroom to find Hermione lying on a huge bed looking over the history book they had been studying. "Well goodnight Hermione," Harry called from the doorway.

"Harry, I know this place is safe but will you stay with me?" she asked. "It still feels a little uncomfortable."

Harry smiled at her, "Of course," he replied as he walked over and climbed into bed beside her. She then reached over and put the book on the nightstand and turned off the light.

"Good night Harry," she said softly as she leaned in and lightly kissed his lips before settling down into his arms, using his chest for a pillow.

"Goodnight Hermione," he replied and for the first time in weeks he breathed easy as he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 18: Deathly Hallows

**A/N: I'm very sorry it has taken so long to post this chapter. Unfortunately I am not a billion dollar author and have to actually work a real job for a living so at times real life gets in the way. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and I'll post again as soon as I can. As always read/review/enjoy.**

**Chapter 18: Deathly Hallows**

He awoke the next morning and wiped the sleep away from his eyes. He reached over and grabbed his glasses and turned to look for Hermione but she wasn't there. Hearing nothing he immediately feared the worst and jumped out of bed and went into main room. He still didn't see Hermione but on the table he noticed a note and instantly recognized the looping handwriting of Hermione. He walked over and read, 'Harry I went to the market real quick. I took a bit of polyjuice potion that should last me just under an hour so if I'm not back by 10 come look for me and get yourself out. Hermione.' He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just a few minutes before 10. His heart still beating a bit faster than normal he went back into the bedroom to begin to gather everything up just in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

He was just about to tie up the bag and head out the door when he heard the front door open and he ran out wand drawn. When he saw Hermione with an armful of bags he quickly dropped his guard and walked over to help her. "You can't do that to me Hermione," he mentioned as he took the groceries from her.

"Well I was going to wait until you got up but I didn't know if that was ever going to happen," she teased.

"Give me a break, we've been sleeping in a tent for the last four months. It was nice to have four walls and a bed," he replied.

"Oh and here I thought it was because you were sleeping next to me," she said with a grin.

"Well I suppose that might have had something to do with it," he replied as he set the groceries down and leaned over to give her a peck.

For the rest of that day they relaxed and enjoyed the relief of feeling slightly normal for a change. Hermione made them three delicious meals and they spent large chunks of the day just relaxing on the sofa looking at old photographs which brought about old stories of their lives both together and separate. They steered clear of Harry's old room but for the most part they lived normally that first day in the Potter home, something they both hadn't realized they desperately needed.

The next day though it was back to work. After another nice breakfast they went to work at turning the house over, looking for anything that may have been left for them by Dumbledore. They dug around the vegetable patch in the back yard, they searched through all the cupboards in the kitchen, they even dared a trip back into Harry's old room to look through all the drawers of his old dresser. Finding nothing they headed back downstairs and Hermione headed for his parents room to look in there. Harry meanwhile headed for the study. After looking through the many bookshelves he sat down at the enormous oak desk that backed up against the window and began to pull out the drawers. The bottom drawer turned out to be full of files and as he began to rifle through them he came upon one labeled 'Invisibility Cloak.'

He pulled it out, set it on the desk and opened it up. Inside he found pages and pages of handwritten notes that must have been from his father about his invisibility cloak. After reading for a bit Harry got up and went into the bedroom to grab the cloak. "Going somewhere?" Hermione asked as she looked up from the drawers she was searching through.

"No I just found some notes my dad wrote about this cloak and I wanted to try a few things," he replied.

Hermione looked at him curiously and followed him back into the office. For a moment she looked over his shoulder while he looked again at the notes before noticing the files herself and bending down for a closer look. Harry continued pouring over the notes until… "Incendio," he yelled, pointing his wand at the cloak. Hermione jumped back in fight but nothing happened to the cloak. "Expulso," Harry cried again pointing directly at the cloak which remained completely intact.

"Harry what are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"It's indestructible," he replied. "I never realized that before."

Hermione just shook her head and went back to the files while Harry read on. After a few more minutes he noticed something else, "Hermione what was the name of the book that Dumbledore left you again?" he asked.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," she answered. "Why?"

"Is there a story in it called "The Tale of the Three Brothers"?" he pressed.

"Yeah, it's about these three brothers that meet death and are each given something as a reward for escaping death," she stated. "It's a bit creepy really."

"What do they get as a reward?" Harry asked.

"Well the first brother asks for an indestructible wand, the second asks for a way to bring people back from the dead so he gets a stone and the third asks for a way to hide from death so he gets a…" her eyes widened and she trailed off.

"He gets a cloak doesn't he?" Harry questioned. "One that makes him invisible."

"Well yes but Harry it's just a children's story. One that's made up to teach children that they need to be careful."

"But Hermione think about it. In all our years in the magical world have you ever seen or even heard of another cloak like this one?" he asked.

"Well I mean there are other invisibility cloaks though they are quite rare. And now that you mention it those do supposedly last only a few years before they wear out," she mentioned.

"Exactly," Harry said excitedly. "My dad had this when he was our age and think about it. In the seven years we've been using it we've never been spotted under it even once."

"Well yes but what does that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione what do we know Riddle is looking for?"

"A wand that can beat yours," she replied.

"An indestructible wand," he corrected. "He's looking for a wand that can't be beaten. Here look what my Dad wrote here," he exclaimed, magically widening the chair so that Hermione could sit beside him. "He calls them 'The Deathly Hallows,' something people have come up with after reading that story. Apparently people believe that if someone can reunite the three objects from the story they will be the master of death."

Hermione flipped through the pages Harry had been reading. "He thinks this might be the cloak from the story. He thinks it might be real," she said, scratching her head.

"It is real Hermione," Harry said exasperatedly. "There is no other explanation for this cloak. Come on you're the logical one. Is there any logical explanation as to why this cloak still works, is indestructible, doesn't even have a tear on it?"

She thought about it for a few moments before acknowledging, "Well no, logically I suppose there's not but there also is no logical reason to believe the story is real. I mean how could someone literally meet death?" she asked.

"Maybe they didn't really meet death but I'd bet my wand that these brothers are real, that these things exist, that one of them is sitting right there and that Riddle is looking for another."

Again she sat pondering something for a few moments before replying, "I've read about a wand people called the most powerful wand ever made. Supposedly it was made of elder, the wand in the book is made from elder," she said as more and more dawned on her. "It goes back centuries. It was passed down and taken by force for ages but it's location and owner sort of got lost in the shuffle during the Goblin Rebellion and no one has seen or heard from it since."

"But Riddle is looking for it now and he thinks that Gregorovich had it but now that thief has it," Harry insisted.

"But Harry what about the stone, where could that possibly…" she began to ask but at that moment Harry's snitch came buzzing into the room.

They both realized it at the same moment and looked at each other mesmerized before saying together, "I open at the close."

"It's in there Hermione, I know it is," Harry said as he snatched the snitch as it flew by them.

"But Harry if this is all true then it means that Riddle is after the cloak too. Why haven't you had any visions about it?"

"I don't' know, maybe he's just worried about one at a time, maybe he doesn't know about the other two, maybe he's just looking for a really powerful wand, I don't know. But we have to find it before he does."

"But the horcruxes," Hermione mentioned.

"I know Hermione, I know. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh gee and here I thought we'd be staying in five star hotels and finding things every other day," Hermione said grinning.

"Well at least this place is better than the tent," Harry said smiling.

"Yes well the shower is a definite plus," she stated. "Speaking of which I do believe I'll go take one right now."

"Have fun," Harry said as she got up and headed out the door. Harry continued to read through his dad's notes when a few moments later he heard the door open again. He looked up and saw Hermione's arm reach in and drop a brassiere and knickers onto the floor. Listening to her giggle as she ran through the living room and into the bathroom where he heard the door closed Harry blushed while shaking his head. There was still so much he didn't know about his bushy haired friend.


End file.
